The Sword of a Girl
by Lukira Choniru
Summary: Lost. Confused. No guidance but her 'family' and friends. Will Kiruchi ever find out about how she really got to Tokyo? SoujiroxOcxYahiko
1. Departure

Author's Note: Hiya! This is my first story on FanFic. Yea, I know I sound like total noob. On some of the planets and characters, try spelling their names backwards and you'll find out a word being formed. For example: Odnek=Kendo Yes, I'm not too creative.but I try to be. I'll add some more notes later. Enjoy! Also note that some of the places ARE sorta mixed up.Yes, I know I'm stupid.  
  
The Sword of a Girl  
  
Prologue  
  
"Your Highness, the escape pod is ready to descend." A tall man with black hair sighed. "Make sure that the coordinates of all escape pods are on the planet Earth. We must make sure that everyone arrives safely there."  
  
"Yes, Your Highness." The man departed through the mechanical doors. The tall man known as Emperor Kushina pounded his fists on the table. A small, petite hand laid on his shoulder. He turned around to see his wife, Queen Siusaka.  
  
"We all know this is hard to do. Once the escape pod is set.She must go. The minions from Eniru are already after her abilities." Tears started forming in her deep, amber eyes as she looked into the eyes of her husband. Kushina kicked the table into the wall. Wails came from the room across the hallway.  
  
"I hope that she makes it to Earth safe and sound." The king stood up. "We mustn't let our guard down so that Teliot can take our home. He'll do horrible things. But she'll still remember us with this." He opened the drawer of a large, wooden desk and took out a thin, metal sheath. Siusaka gasped.  
  
"You know that that sword is very powerful with all the powers of the elements inside. But, why?" Kushina took the sword out and looked at the strange markings on the blade.  
  
"She'll have to learn how to wield a sword in order to survive at Earth. Besides, we've set the coordinates on the country of Japan. She should be safe at.what's that city called again?" He took out a small map out of his pocket. "Oh yes. Tokyo. There are many ninjas, swordsmen, and samurai there." He grinned a bit. "That'll teach her how to be strong and powerful." Siusaka covered her mouth and put it down.  
  
"You really are crazy now." She sighed. "Very well then. Do as you must, but DO NOT harm our daughter." She walked out of the room and came back cradling a small girl with black hair and a tinge of brown. She was sound asleep due to the late night. Siusaka smiled while Kushina patted her small head. A man came rushing in, panting heavily.  
  
Kushina's smiling face vanished while a large, solemn face replaced it. "What's the matter?!?" The man stood up.  
  
"We're under attack by Eniru. The escape pod is ready as you expected. But, Teliot has lead the attack. We have already sent the defense team. They can only hold them for so long. Should we send in back up?"  
  
"Yes, send in rein-" Kushina stopped as a large, explosion came from behind him. The man ran off. "Siusaka, get her out of here now! If Teliot gets his grimy hands on her, then we'll be in a large mess of trouble. But if I don't make it to the safe room in time.then remember one thing.I love you, Siusaka so GET HER OUT OF HERE!" Siusaka's tears rolled down her cheeks. She ran over to Kushina and kissed him on the forehead.  
  
"I'll always love you no matter what. And.please be careful." He wiped her tears and smiled. Another explosion came from the wall. Siusaka ran to the girl with the sword in her hands. She placed the sword in her hands and ran off. Her hot tears streamed behind her as she made her way through the fire and explosions to the dock. And there was the small escape pod waiting for her. She placed the girl in there sword and all. She kissed the girl on the cheek and started the controls. The pod rose and sped off towards Earth.  
  
Meanwhile, Kushina grabbed his sword from the wall and flung his royal cloak off exposing a thinner black robe. The fire from the explosions had blocked the doorways except for one. He made a run for it but was stopped by a black figure blocking it. Kushina coughed from the smoke and fell to his knees. The figure moved closer revealing itself as a tall man with long brown hair. "Well, well, well. What do we have here? Stand up Kushina! I didn't travel 4,500 miles just so I can see you coughing from a little smoke. I came here so that I can rule this planet, destroy you, and take your little daughter." Kushina rose to his feet slowly.  
  
"Well Teliot, you've wasted your time because you will not destroy me and take my planet. My daughter is not here either. So you just might as well go back to Eniru where you belong." He took his massive cross-sword(I call it the.shinru x] It's four swords stuck together with the handles in the middle. The swords out since they are binded together. Good defense, horrible attack since it's heavy) out of its sheath. "You'll have to go through me first anyway." Teliot smirked.  
  
"You really are pathetic. You'll never defeat me. I defeated you since we were kids through high school. Do you think that this will be any different? Well, you're wrong then!" Teliot dew out his two kodachi. "Very well then. We shall settle our score." Teliot lunged at Kushina. Kushina blocked with his shinru and kicked at Teilot, making contact with his leg. But Teliot didn't flinch. Instead, he drew back and slashed at Kushina with a cross-star technique. Kushina barely dodged it but the blade had cut through his robes leaving a small cut there. Kushina lunged at Teilot spinning his shinru and jumped down in front of Teilot cutting his shoulders. "You know that having a nude emperor is embarrassing to the public." Teilot smiled evilly. "But no matter because you are just about to be finished now!" Teilot rushed at Kushina, dodging his assault and brought both kodachi down at full strength. Kushina had not successfully blocked the attack but have blocked on a little. The two blades had cut both sides of Kushina's neck, cutting the main vein.the jugular. He gasped for breath, but he wasn't the only one. While blocking the attack, Kushina had managed to use one of the for blades to be forced into the neck of Teliot.  
  
Both of them wouldn't be able to rule anymore planets or kill more innocent people. They were both dying. Teilot was the first to fall, but Kushina knew that Siusaka definitely had died as well knowing that he heard her scream. But he also knew that his reign of leaders had not fallen. He collapsed but whispering to no one he mumbled..  
  
"Please live to be a beautiful lively daughter. Your mother and I are both proud of your small achievements and abilities. But you must go on and face the wonders of life. So now be strong and brave my only.Kiruchi Roujihakuni." He smiled slightly and fell. 


	2. A New Found

Chapter 1  
  
Kiruchi was still sleeping in the escape pod until she entered Earth's atmosphere. The pod was coming apart as it came hurtling down. She woke up sniffling, but she didn't know what was going on. Kushina had made sure that her memory was erased except for her name and training. Three minutes later, the pod dissolved until on Kiruchi, the sword, and pieces of metal were left.  
  
Kiruchi landed softly on a small patch of wilderness in the mountains. Pieces of metal shimmered all around her as she rubbed her eyes. Where am I? She thought to herself. Something else caught her eyes. What's this? A sword's sheath? But how? She kept questioning herself until a large rustle in the bushes disrupted Kiruchi's questioning. "W-Who's there?" she stammered. A lamp was brought down to her face. The bright light made her close her eyes.  
  
"Mishonu, come quick! I found a little girl!" Kiruchi opened her eyes to see a dark browned hair man with gentle eyes looking at her. She looked behind him to see a young woman with black hair running over to see what the commotion was. She knelt down by the man. All Kiruchi could do was sit on the ground, staring at them.  
  
"Hello there. Don't worry we won't hurt you. Where are your parents?" The lady smiled. Kiruchi felt better about these people.  
  
"I dunno. Who are you?" The lady gasped and looked at the man. She whispered something into his ear and he nodded.  
  
"I'm Shikono and this is Mishonu." He saw that she was clutching a sword in her hands. "Is that sword yours?" She nodded. Shikono grinned at her and looked up at Mishonu. "I guess we have no choice but to take her. I don't see any people here.I wonder how she got here. She might have been abandoned then." Mishonu nodded.  
  
"Very well then. Just don't keep running off so that you can go gambling for more money. Besides, I'll have to work harder so that I can receive a promotion. I can't earn too much money being a bank teller. I only get paid 300 yen a week." She looked sternly at him.  
  
"Fine. I'll look for a job too. Now lets get.. What's your name?" He helped Kiruchi up.  
  
"I'm Kiruchi Roujihakuni." She leaped up grabbing her sword and holding a small piece of metal.  
  
"Well Kiruchi, welcome to our family." He smiled at her. Kiruchi smiled as well, knowing that she now had a family.  
  
They arrived at a small house about 30 minutes later. "Well, here we are. Home sweet home." Kiruchi was sitting on Shikono's shoulders when they arrived. Mishonu was examining the strange markings on the sword behind them. Kiruchi jumped down from Shikono's shoulders and ran to the house. He chuckled. "She'll definitely fit in very well."  
  
Mishonu placed her hand on his shoulder. "This sword is very strange.How can a little girl like her be able to even lift this sword up? It's so heavy." He looked at the sword for awhile and picked it up.  
  
"I suppose that is strange. But this is our first time Mishonu, you musn't worry so much." She smiled. Kiruchi ran up to them.  
  
"Let's go!" She tugged on their hands. Kiruchi was eager to go inside. Shikono pushed the door open revealing some rooms.  
  
"Welcome to your new home. Why don't we give you a tour first? Oh and Mishonu?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Can you get Kiruchi some clothes to wear?" Mishonu walked off into the hallway.  
  
"Come on Kiruchi. I'll show you around the house. We'll introduce you to some other kids later." He took her hand and opened a door.  
  
An hour passed and Kiruchi saw most of the rooms of the house including the kitchen, dining room, master bedroom, living room, garden, attic, closet(s), pantry, and training hall. Shikono decided to show Kiruchi her room later. Mishonu walked into the living room where Shikono was showing Kiruchi how to work the television. "Since you're going to teach her how to fight, get her some of the uniforms you used to have. I've found some kimonos that are small enough for her." He left the room muttering "Only some because you're a bit big."  
  
Kiruchi walked to the dining room where Mishonu was placing some kimonos in front of her. Kiruchi breathed in the scent of the clothes, smelling flowers. Kiruchi looked over them carefully and chose a few. She especially loved the black kimono with the red dragon on the back and tried it on. Shikono walked into the room and placed numerous blue, black, and brown training robes. He looked up and smiled at Kiruchi. "You look beautiful in that one." Kiruchi blushed a bit leaving a soft, pink tone on her pale skin. "These should fit.I think. That last person who wore these was that Toshiki boy and he was 7. So, that should be good. Now let's show you your room."  
  
Kiruchi jumped up. "Yay!" She grabbed his hand and looked up at him. He looks like some one I know.she thought to herself. Shikono led her past the master bedroom and kitchen to a door that she didn't notice before. He opened the door and she looked inside. There was a small bedroom all for her! She ran in a stood in the center looking all around her. There was a small bed, desk, and closet to put her stuff on as well. She didn't notice that Shikono was placing two pegs on to the wall.  
  
"What are you doing?"  
  
"I'm putting a small place so that you can put your sword up here." He finished nailing the pegs in and placed the sword on top. "Now you can do whatever you what to your room. And also, keep your room clean. You don't want to live in a pig sty do you?"  
  
Mishonu walked in with the rest of the kimonos that she chose. "We hope you like your new room. It has a lot of things that you'll be needing once you start school and training."  
  
Kiruchi cocked her head at Mishonu. "School? And training?" A large grin spread over her small face. "Hooray!!!" She ran to Mishonu and Shikono. "Thank you so much! I don't know what to say."  
  
"Well, you better get to sleep then. Cause you're waking bright and early so that you can help us with our morning chores. And we'll introduce you to some other kids like Yahiko, Misao, and how about.Soujiro?" Kiruchi nodded her head and wouldn't stop until Shikono put his hand on her head. "Now get some sleep. Here are some more comfortable robes if you want to sleep better. We'll wake you up at dawn tomorrow." He tossed her a faded lavender robe.  
  
Kiruchi put on the robe and started hanging her new clothes. She was almost done when her eyes darted to the last kimono that she didn't see before. It was also a black kimono with a blue dragon in the back and a red symbol that she didn't see before. She smoothed it out. It was too big for her, but it became her favorite. Mishonu came into the room to tuck her in.  
  
"This has been a great night for all of us. It's really late now. So you should get to bed if you want to catch a wink of sleep." Kiruchi crawled into her bed.  
  
"What time is it?" Mishonu looked at the moon. Well, it should be about midnight right now. So hurry and go to bed. We'll see you at dawn." She kissed Kiruchi on the cheek and turned off the lamp.  
  
"Good night.Kiruchi. I'd never thought I would be able to raise a child. But I can try now." Mishonu walked out of the room, into the dark hallway.  
  
To be continued. 


	3. Responsibility

Chapter 2  
  
Kiruchi woke up to the light breeze that came through her room. She had kicked off the covers during the night since she was feeling warm. The stars outside were beginning to fade as she got up. She looked around her and remembered that she was at Shikono and Mishonu's home. The sky was turning into a warm feeling that was comforting to her as she opened the window and breathed in the fresh morning scent. Kiruchi walked over to the closet and pulled out a white shirt and a navy blue robe. She quickly dressed since the air was stinging her skin a bit.  
  
The door opened as Mishonu walked in to see how Kiruchi was doing. "Good morning Kiruchi. I see that you're ready for a bright new day." Kiruchi nodded. "Yes, I am. I can't wait do meet some new friends." Mishonu smiled and looked outside. "Well better go downstairs before our breakfast gets cold. No one likes a cold meal.well, except Eskimos, but they're used to cold food."  
  
Kiruchi jumped off the bed and stood up. "I'll be right down then. I wanna do some stuff first." Mishonu looked at her suspiciously but nodded. After she left, Kiruchi took down the sword. How did I get something so big and shiny? It can be my play toy! But then she saw the blade. May not. I better go down stairs for breakfast and chores. She put the sword back in its sheath and put it back. It took Kiruchi awhile to remember where the kitchen was, and ran there.  
  
Mishonu had changed into a plain brown robe and was pouring some tea into Shikono's cup. "Good morning Kiruchi." Kiruchi nodded back at Shikono. "Ready for breakfast and chores?"  
  
"Yup." She looked at the plate Mishonu had placed in front of her. There was some rice balls on the plate. Kiruchi thanked her and ate them quickly but silently. Kiruchi jumped up. "I'm done! Are we gonna do the chores now?" Shikono nodded. "You better be ready to handle some responsibilities." Kiruchi nodded slightly. He smiled and got up. "Maybe if we have time, we can start some training with my friend Kenshin Himura. How does that sound?"  
  
"That sounds like fun!" She walked out the back door behind Shikono, into their garden. It was around harvesting season, so there was a lot of rice to be gathered. Shikono handed her a bag. "We're going to start this morning with some rice gathering and shelling. Then we'll go on to fetching water from the spring and a bit of gardening." Kiruchi nodded as they walked towards the rice patch in their large garden.  
  
(2 hours passed.)  
  
"Whew.We're finally done with all the rice gathering and shelling. It's great having you here to help me. Thanks." Shikono ruffled Kiruchi's shoulder-lengthened, black hair. "Now all we need to do is fetch some gallons of water from the nearby stream and pull weeds. And.. That's it."  
  
Shikono went into the shed and pulled out two large buckets and another one, slightly smaller. He handed her the smaller one. "Mishonu will be telling you to go get her some water about every other day. Just fill your bucket up with water and bring it to her without letting the water drip. " They walked over a small bridge leading them into their flower garden. "This is where we'll spend the rest of the morning. Don't worry. We always have fun in the afternoon and night. You'll see soon." He bent down and filled both buckets up with water. Kiruchi tried doing the same without getting her robe wet, but she failed. A loud splash was heard when Shikono turned around. Kiruchi was standing in the lake. She had fallen in and got her robes wet and muddy. Shikono laughed hysterically at the sight of her.  
  
"It's not funny." She pouted and splashed him with water. "Okay, okay. I'll stop. " He helped her up from the slippery bank and showed her how to fill the buckets up the correct way. They carried the water back to the house and dumped them into the well. "Mishonu can get water from here. All we have to do is fill it up most of the time. I hate it when we clean it though. You'll love that job. Why do you look like a frog?" (*) (*) (-------) frog ^  
  
Kiruchi had stretched her face out and made her mouth look like a long thin line. Kiruchi stuck her tongue out and laughed at herself. "Because I saw on by the pond and I tried to copy its face." She smiled. "Let's go pull out some weeds now so that I can go meet my new friends later."  
  
They rose to their feet and walked off towards the flower garden. Shikono led her to a small patch of orchids where they were still in bloom. "We'll weed these today. We can weed the other patches later."  
  
(One hour later.)  
  
"Wow, you're a faster pull weeds fast than I am. Do you wanna stop for the day or do another patch?" Kiruchi scratched her head. "Okay. Let's weed another patch. The patch of tiger lilies look pretty good." He nodded. They walked over to a slightly larger patch of tiger lilies. Kiruchi pulled weeds as fast as she could since she wanted to get out of her damp and filthy robe.  
  
(Another hour past.)  
  
"Okay! I'm done." Kiruchi pulled the last weed out and tossed it into her bag. Shikono stood up. "Me too. Let's go grab some lunch. What do you think Mishonu cooked for us?" Kiruchi rubbed her growling stomach. "I hope she made some rice, broccoli beef, vegetable soup, bak-choy, and chicken." Shikono patted her head. "You have a big appetite like me." He patted his stomach. "I guess your with me are done." She squirmed out of his hand. "What do you mean my chores with you?!?" He laughed. "Mishonu and I have different responsibilities to teach you. I teach you the things outside the home and she'll teach you about how to be a "lady" and a bunch of other junk I can't teach you." Kiruchi crossed her arms and pouted.  
  
"Being a lady has nothing to do with me. I wanna be the strongest female who wields a sword." Shikono was shocked. "S-So you're saying you don't wanna be all pretty and all that?" Kiruchi nodded. He smiled. "Then Mishonu will be having a hard time with you. I can already tell that you have an overdose of confidence."  
  
She blushed slightly. "I guess." They took off their sandals and walked through the living room to the kitchen. "We're done!" Mishonu turned around holding a pot of broccoli beef. "That was quick. I'm not finished cooking." She looked at Kiruchi's robe and also made a frog face without the grin. (x) (x) (--------) her frog face^  
  
"You better change into a different robe before lunch." Kiruchi ran to her room and opened her closet. She took out a tan robe and another white shirt. She changed quickly and went back down to the kitchen. Mishonu was done cooking some fried rice and was taking it to the dining room. Kiruchi went to the doorway. She looked at the table and saw a red haired man with a woman with long, black hair whacking a boy with spiky hair about her age.  
  
Shikono looked at the doorway and saw Kiruchi there. ""Kiruchi, I want you to meet your new teacher, Kenshin. This is his wife, Miss Kaoru, and their one of there other students, Yahiko. I told you about him before."  
  
To be continued. 


	4. Introductions

The Tiger speaks(aka Author's Notes): Yup, this is the part where the characters from Rurouni Kenshin finally come in. I hope that the beginning wasn't too weird. If you didn't know what year this was, it is the year of 1887. Yes, a bit late I know. But they still have the "great invention"(notice the quotes) fire. o_O Anyway, back to our story.  
  
Chapter 3  
  
Kiruchi just sat there looking at their guests. Shikono stood up. Kiruchi turned around and slapped herself when they weren't looking. She walked into the dining room and bowed to Kenshin and Kaoru. "It's a pleasure meeting you. I can't wait until the training begins." Kenshin smiled and looked at Shikono. "Yes, she'll be a fantastic student."  
  
Kiruchi smiled. Kenshin turned to Yahiko. "I hope the both of you will be able to be friends and work as a team." Yahiko shrugged. "Yeah, sure, whatever." Kaoru frowned. "You know Yahiko, you should really stop acting so much like Sano." Yahiko glared at her and crossed his arms. Kenshin turned back to Kiruchi. "So, I've heard you were found with a real sword." She nodded. "Then do you know how to use it?" She shrugged. "I know a few moves and tactics. I also do martial arts as well." Yahiko looked up and thought to himself. This girl's even learned more than I have! Ggggrrrr.Kaoru's right after all. Maybe, I do need to try and work harder. This is gonna be more embarrassing when she finds out that I can't even wield a sword yet! It's a good thing we haven't talked to each other yet. He sighed.  
  
Kiruchi ate in silence as Kenshin and Shikono discussed about the new invention called the light bulb. (x_x) Shikono had told her to go eat in the kitchen with Yahiko. Mishonu was showing Kaoru her new purple kimono made from silk. Yahiko kept giving her strange looks. She ate the last piece of broccoli beef and placed the plate in a tub to wash dishes. Yahiko finished right after her. She looked behind her and sighed. "I might as well start a chat." Yahiko looked at her. "Did you say anything?" She shook her head. "Where do you live?" Yahiko was placing his plate in the tub as well. "I live with Kenshin, Kaoru, and Sanosuke at the Kamiya Dojo. How about you?"  
  
"I live with Shikono and Mishonu in this house. I guess we're going to be starting our training together." He shrugged. "I guess." She lifted her head up. "Shikono said that I was going to meet some other people named Misao and Soujiro." Yahiko put on a different frog face and kicked a loose pebble outside.  
  
(-) (-) (-------) Yahiko's frog face^  
  
"Argh! Not Seta Soujiro!" He punched his hand. "Kenshin and Kaoru know that we're rivals, but they don't know how much we fight." She cocked her head. "Rivals?" He nodded. "We compete against each other in almost everything. There's usually tension between us, but we're also friends sometimes. But usually we bicker. Now, we get along pretty well I guess." He relaxed his muscles. "I'm sorry I was acting strange to you." She smiled. "Not at all."  
  
Yahiko lifted his head. This girl's strange. She's my age, but she acts so much mature. Oh well, she's new. He grinned and stood up. They walked back into the dining room together and took the adult's dirty dishes to the tub so that Mishonu and Kaoru can wash them later. Kenshin and Shikono had moved to his small bar where they were drinking sake and talking about what to teach Kiruchi.  
  
There was a knock on the door and Shikono stood up. "That must be Shishio. He's bringing Soujiro and Misao over." He looked at Kenshin's puzzled expression and added "Misao's grandfather went to go pick up his prescription at Megumi's place. You and Shishio aren't still fighting rivals.right?" Kenshin smiled and shook his head. "We're still rivals, but we have a spar every now and then."  
  
Shikono opened door as a man with dark brown hair entered pushing a boy with light brown hair and a girl about 3 years older than her. Shishio shook hands with Shikono and Kenshin. "It's been awhile since we all came together without a fight." Shikono and Kenshin nodded. Kaoru and Mishonu appeared and led Soujiro and Misao to Kiruchi and Yahiko who were playing by the well. "Be good, you four and don't get yourselves dirty." Soujiro and Misao nodded. Soujiro was wearing a mahogany colored robe and Misao wore a green one. Kiruchi was about to jump across the well when she turned around and saw Soujiro and Misao.  
  
She jumped down from the well and walked over to them. "Hi. I'm Kiruchi. I'm guessing you two are Soujiro and Misao?" They nodded. Soujiro looked behind her and saw Yahiko standing against the garden wall. He gritted his teeth. "Yahiko, what are you doing here? Just standing around doing nothing?" Yahiko walked up to Soujiro and shoved him. "At least I'm doing something unlike you." Kiruchi and Misao sat down on a bench and started talking about the classes that they were planning to take. They didn't notice Yahiko and Soujiro shoving each other until they crashed into them knocking all four of them into the muddy bank.  
  
They all looked at each other and laughed. Everyone had at least a clump of mud on them or standing up with their robes soaked. Mishonu and Kaoru were bringing some sesame-covered rice balls out for them to munch on. They looked at the filthy robes of Kiruchi, Misao, Yahiko, and Soujiro for a few minutes. Even though they didn't faint, they did drop the rice balls and began pulling them out. Kiruchi and Misao each punched Yahiko and Soujiro. "Why'd you two always have to argue and then start fighting? I can't believe how both of you will grow up to become mature. Men and boys are always the same stubborn and always fighting with each other. Oh well. All of you go get cleaned up and Kiruchi will get you some clothes to change into."  
  
Kaoru helped Mishonu pick up the rice balls while Kiruchi showed them where the bathroom was. They all had to creep past Kenshin, Shikono, and Shishio who moved back to the dining room where they were talking about the next tournament for the students. Kiruchi stopped walking to listen but Soujiro had accidentally stepped on her foot and she yelped. She quickly covered her mouth and stood there. The men had turned around and chuckled. "So Soujiro and Yahiko were having another squabble again?" Misao and Kiruchi nodded. Shishio looked at the sun. "You all better get cleaned fast your lessons with Kenshin soon." They ran to the restroom. Misao had got to take a quick scrub first while Kiruchi went upstairs and brought out a red robe for Misao, a pale blue for Soujiro, a yellow for Yahiko, and a black one for herself. Misao had just gotten out of the tub when Soujiro ran in. Yahiko had decided that he would go last, but Kenshin had said that he must go before Kiruchi. He frowned, but nodded. Kiruchi handed Misao her robe and went downstairs to use the tub in the master bedroom.  
  
She heard Soujiro come out of the bathroom and knew that he was leaving with Shishio to go get his and Misao's weapons at his house. Kiruchi relaxed in the tub for awhile and started scrubbing the mud off of her skin. She heard Shikono calling to her to hurry up. She went under water one more time and clambered out of the tub. She slipped on her black robe and tied the blue sash on. Her hair was damp but she didn't care.  
  
(One hour later.)  
  
"Here we are. The Kamiya Dojo. This is where you'll be training with Misao, Soujiro, and Yahiko." Kiruchi clutched her sword tighter to herself. Shikono looked at her seeing that she's nervous. "Don't worry. You won't be using a real sword.yet." She nodded and relaxed slightly. "Well, here we go."  
  
He opened the door revealing and plain training hall where Kenshin was helping Misao off the floor. "Hello Kiruchi." Kiruchi turned and saw Soujiro and Yahiko coming towards her. "We're all in the same class together. This is gonna be great!" She nodded. Maybe this won't be so bad after all.  
  
To be continued. 


	5. Assessment and Racing

Author Notes: rips dictionary and documents I am through with the old time junk. Time for some more modern stuff to appear. Crumble. Throw. Dammit. Missed. Oh well.  
  
Chapter 4  
  
Kenshin walked over to Kiruchi. "Ready for some sparring and lessons?" She nodded. Shikono walked over to Kenshin. "Need any help." He nodded. "Can you go pick up some things for me at the Ainedrag florist shop down the block?" Shikono nodded. Kenshin handed him a list of things to buy. His amber brown eyes bulged out slightly at the things he had to buy. "Violets and roses? What are all these flowers for?" He raised an eyebrow at Kenshin. A tall man appeared at the doorway. "Those aren't for him. Those flowers are for me. I need them by tonight."  
  
Kiruchi looked away from tapestries and walked over to Shikono. "Hello Sano. Let me guess, you have a date with Megumi again?" The man named Sano blushed lightly, leaving a pink tone on his cheeks. Shikono smirked. "Fine. I'll get them for you." He saw Kiruchi standing there. "Kiruchi, this is Sanosuke Sagara. Another one of my friends." Sano stopped blushing and looked down at the small girl. "Hiya. You're about Yahiko's age huh?" She nodded slightly. Sano grinned. "Don't get to interested in Yahiko. He's really stubborn." Kiruchi ignored him and looked around. There were a lot of different weapons in here including all sorts of swords, chains, etc. She felt a hand being placed on to her shoulder. She turned around.  
  
"I can tell that you'll enjoy this training." She nodded. She waved to Shikono who was walking out the door and walked towards the other students. "Class, I want you to meet Kiruchi. She will be joining our class. Would you like to say something?" She shook her head. "Alright then, let's begin with some stretches and split up into our groups."  
  
They were finished stretching their legs when Yahiko came up to Kiruchi. "Do you wanna be in our group? Soujiro and Narumi are in our group." She nodded. Yahiko took her by the hand and led her to a group of kids around her age. "What about Misao?" "She's being transferred to a different training hall. She's had more experience than we have so she decided to train as a ninja at the Aoiya." She nodded slightly. He took her by the hand so that he could lead her to their group. She was shocked for an instance, but then she let go of his hand and slapped him. "What was that for?!?" She turned and walked towards the group. "I can walk by myself you know." Yahiko scowled and dragged his feet there. Soujiro was laughing by the time he got there. "Hahahahahaha. You can't do anything right can you?" Yahiko kicked Soujiro in the stomach. "Can you just please shut up about me?" Kiruchi was chatting with Narumi when Kenshin stood up.  
  
"Today will be a hand-to-hand combat. I will assign each of you a partner to spar with. No exceptions will be made. Oh and Kiruchi, will you come here for a minute? I want to see how your skills are." She trotted over there. Kenshin turned back to the small class. "Let's see.since there are only 9 of you without Kiruchi, then the person who isn't chosen will get to spar with Kiruchi." He flipped back a piece of paper.  
  
(5 minutes later.(yes, I'm very lazy -__-)  
  
"And.Yahiko you'll be partners with Soujiro." Yahiko gritted his teeth, Soujiro nodded. "C'mon Yahiko." He turned around and walked over to a corner. Kenshin turned to the last person standing. "Then Narumi, you can help with some chores while you wait. Can you water the flowers outside for me? There's a flowering can in the shed." She nodded and walked outside.  
  
"Well, let's go outside then." Kenshin led Kiruchi to a small plain by a creek. "Have you learned any specific techniques?" She shook her head. "Alright then, we'll have a little hand-to-hand combat then. So how about it?" She smirked and stood in a fighting pose. "Ready...GO!"  
  
Kenshin lunged forward and tried to punch her. Kiruchi had barely dodged it and ducked. She kicked Kenshin hard in the stomach, following a sideswipe at his shoulder. "Not bad." Kenshin jumped into the air and was planning to kick straight down. Kiruchi solved his plan and rolled over. Kenshin had only cut her robe when he turned and kicked again at her. The blow on the ground helped Kiruchi into the air and landed. Kenshin relaxed his muscles. "That'll be enough for now. You're a bit more advanced than the rest in this kind of combat." He scribbled something on a piece of paper.  
  
"We'll try using swords next. He handed her a thick branch from the ground. We'll use branches first before using a wooden sword. We'll move on to a real sword after that. She fingered the branch and scratching off some loose pieces of bark. "Most students don't use that yet." She smiled softly to herself. This will be easier than I thought. She put the branch through her sash. "I'm ready." Kenshin grabbed his branch. "So am I. Let's begin."  
  
She drew the branch with her left hand and turned it upside down. Kenshin drew his with the right and was sliding his foot backwards. She noticed this action of attacking and focused on her defense by tossing the branch into her right hand. Kenshin ran towards Kiruchi swiping his branch at her. She and blocked this attack and leapt back. She sprinted as fast as she could and turned; using her sword to smack Kenshin in the back. Kenshin didn't flinch but he turned and poked Kiruchi in the stomach when her back was turned. "That'll be all. Not too bad. Only one more section to fill and that's all."  
  
He led her to a patch of flowers. "There are 25 different herbs planted here mixed with flowers. Find 5 of them and bring them to me." Kiruchi wasn't interested in flowers or herbs but she knew some. She prowled around the garden aisles and picked a few but tossed them aside.  
  
(10 minutes later..more laziness)  
  
Kenshin was about to fall asleep when Kiruchi's shouting woke him up. "I THINKI FOUND SOME!!!!!" Kenshin opened up a sleepy eye and yawned. Kiruchi was holding out some plants. "Okay, stop shouting though. Now let's see what you found." Kenshin took the plants and separated them out on the ground. The setting sun was starting to go down quickly. "You've gotten some sage, mint, and yarrow. But, you picked some copperbush and an iris. Don't worry though, we'll work on that. So now we're finished with our assessment. Just give this to Shikono when he comes back." He finished scribbling and gave her the piece of paper. She stared at it. "Um..I think you gave me the wrong paper. You gave me a picture of Kaoru." Kenshin did another frog face. (froggies!) (0) ||| (---------) Kenshin's frog face^  
  
"Gimme that. Here's it is." He gave her another piece of paper. "Are you sure Shikono can read this? It's so messy." He got frustrated and snapped back at her. "Who cares?!? He can read it. Now let's go inside. Narumi's waiting for you."  
  
They walked back into the training hall where Narumi was waiting by the door. "Are you ready? Let's spar!" Narumi went into a fighting pose. Everyone stopped to see them spar. They were the only girls in there now that Misao went to the Aoiya. Kiruchi slid into a different pose. Kaoru was talking to Kenshin and saw the girls ready to spar. She didn't want to miss out on the action either. She walked over there and put her hand between them. "Ready..SPAR!"  
  
Kiruchi let Narumi attack first. Kiruchi dodged her punch easily and kicked her in the stomach. This is a lot easier than the spar with Kenshin. I don't even have to use up all my strength. Narumi winced but she was ready for more. Kiruchi slid to the ground and swung her leg around. Narumi jumped up and kicked Kiruchi in the shoulder. Maybe she is sorta tough. But no matter how hard she tries, I'm never gonna let her defeat me! She built up all her energy and sprinted at Narumi. Narumi didn't have time to react when Kiruchi kept sideswiping her. Narumi fell to the ground put kicked Kiruchi in both knees. Kenshin and Kaoru were just standing there not knowing what to do. Finally Sano came in to see what all the boys were chanting about and was startled at what he saw. He pushed the two girls away from each other. "Enough. This is only a spar, not a fight. I teach you how to fight." Narumi wiped the blood trickling down her mouth while Kiruchi massaged her knees.  
  
(10 minutes later.*yawn* must try not to fall asleep. Only 12:53)  
  
Kiruchi was walking home with Soujiro, Yahiko, and Narumi. "That was a close battle huh. Narumi?" Narumi was staring at the ground the whole time. "Huh. Oh yea." Narumi's house was right next to the hall, so she went home first.  
  
I had walk between Yahiko and Soujiro now that they keep fighting. Soujiro always beats Yahiko since he's a bit older and better trained. "Hey, do you guys wanna go to the Aoiya to see how Misao's doing?" Soujiro lifted his sore head up and nodded. Yahiko did the same. "I guess I'll lead the way then. I don't think that you know where it is." She shook her head. "Nope." Yahiko smiled. "It's by the park. You know? The one by your house? We better hurry or else she'll be out of there." He glared at Soujiro. "Race you." Soujiro glared back. "Alright. Kiruchi judge then." She sighed. "You dorks are such losers. But fine. Ready. Go."  
  
They raced off, their bandages trailing behind them. She watched them turn around the corner. She had explored some of Tokyo after her bath. Kiruchi sighed. "They're never going to beat me." She ran off into a nearby alley and climbed the sides. (walls) She stopped and looked over the roof. The roof of the Aoiya was a different color than rest so it was easy for her to spot. She ran across the roof, jumping across alleyways.  
  
(2 minutes later.Dam, I'm so lazy x_X.)  
  
Kiruchi saw Yahiko finally ahead of Soujiro at the corner of the park and her house. She smirked. They're faster than I thought. I'll surprise them. Kiruchi sprinted and leapt off the roof and grabbed the branch of a gnarled oak tree and swung down. She was about to pass Soujiro and Yahiko. This'll tell them I was here. She kicked Soujiro into a pile of nearby horse droppings and kicked Yahiko into a mud-crusted bowl of dirty water from the public well. She jumped down from branch and landed at the door of the Aoiya. "Hahahahahahaha, you can't even beat me. That makes me the winnder and you two are the LOSERS!!!"  
  
She saw a tall man with black hair and walked over there. "Is Misao still here?" He shook his head. "She left a few minutes ago. She's over there." He pointed towards the ditch where Misao was already walking home. "Thanks." She sprinted and tackled Misao into the ditch. "Kiruchi!!!!!!!!" Misao sat up in the water and smiled. "So how was your day? Mine was great." She smiled. "Same here." She jumped out and helped Kiruchi out. "Where's Yahiko and Soujiro." Kiruchi snorted and laughed. "I kicked them there." She pointed to the two guys coming towards them with brown stuff all over them.  
  
"Let's ditch them before they come." Misao and Kiruchi giggled as they ran back home after their first day of training.  
  
To be continued.. 


	6. A New Awakening

Note: -.-zZzZz huh? Oh, sorry. I know the stuff is sorta crappy and lame in my story. Like I said before, I only have an ounce of this 'creativity' stuff.By the way in this chapter is a bit different than the rest. Ages for this chapter after the four years stuff: Kiruchi-12 1/2, Misao-14 ½, Yahiko- 12, Soujiro-13  
  
Warning: My stupidity might be spreaded over this story so watch out. x.X  
  
Chapter 5  
  
(Four years pass...Ages^)  
  
"Kiruchi get up already!!!" Kiruchi opened a lazy eye and turned over. She didn't feel like doing chores. The only time that was relaxing to Kiruchi was when she was asleep. (Sleeping rules! o.O I'll stop.) "Kiruchi get up already! Today's your big day!" Kiruchi opened her eyes and thought for a few seconds. Oh yea, today's the annual tournament against the Ushoiya Dojo from across Tokyo.  
  
She threw her covers up and sat up in her blankets. The ground was littered with her dirty clothes, books, and other junk. She heard Mishonu coming down the hall and threw her dirty clothes into the basket in the corner. "I'm up!" Mishonu's footsteps stopped. "Okay then. That took awhile, now get ready. It's already about 8:30. So get down!" Kiruchi sighed heavily and dragged her feet to the bathroom by her room. She brushed her teeth and washed her face. Why do I even have to do this? She went back into her room and grabbed the dark blue ribbon she always used. I'm gonna do a ponytail this time. She tied the ribbon tightly around her long ponytail.  
  
Kiruchi walked lazily into her closet and pushed the doors aside. Inside on the hangers were the clean clothes, but most of the clothes were filthy and laying on the ground. She dragged the clothes out and piled them on to the other basket. Mishonu knew that Kiruchi usually dumps out her dirty clothes once every other day. She looked at her robes and settled on that robe she has always wanted to wear the black robe with the blue dragon. She carefully slipped it on and walked downstairs.  
  
(3 minutes later.Wow, I'm getting lazier every chapter. X]  
  
"Good morning Shikono, Mishonu." They nodded back at her. She sat in her seat and started wolfing down the dumplings on her plate. Shikono looked up from reading the newspaper. "You should slow down before you start choking." Kiruchi apparently didn't hear because she started coughing and grasping her neck. Shikono sighed. "You should always listen to your elders." Mishonu handed her a cup of water and glared at Shikono. "Like you do." She gulped down the tea and ran outside to do her chores.  
  
Her chores were still the same but Shikono and Mishonu have given her more chores to do. She told them that it was torture, but all they did was glowered at her and gave her the worst chore, (prepare yourself. Drum tap) scrubbing the scum off the floor with a tiny brush. Kiruchi had to do this once every other week until the floor was sparkling. Shikono had to shield his eyes from the sparkles. "At least it's clean."  
  
(One hour later..)  
  
Kiruchi brushed the dirt of her robes and walked inside. She didn't hear Yahiko and Soujiro fighting over the last cookie and walked up to her room. She wasn't used to competition. But she wanted to win. The winner would receive a honorable mention in the newspaper, receive a 5,000 yen scholarship, and get a katana or a wakizashi of their choice.  
  
She took off her robe and placed it into the bag. She walked into the closet and closed the door behind her. Kiruchi had developed personal space in her life so that she could keep secrets to herself. From inside she heard her door opening. "Great, Soujiro and Yahiko had come to raid my room again." And indeed they did. Soujiro smirked as he started looking through her photo album while Yahiko was pulling down some hidden food Kiruchi hid by her dresser. She sighed and put on a navy blue gi shirt and shorts with the white words Kamiya printed on top. She picked out a black obi and ribbon. She tied the obi on to her waist and tied the ribbon around her head. She was about to open the door when the door had opened by itself.  
  
Yahiko had decided to leave the stale crackers and decided to look for the cupcakes Kiruchi was talking about. Kiruchi blushed for a slight second and pounded Yahiko on the head. "Your lucky I was just finished changing. You're such a moron! No wonder Kaoru had to make you stop looking at porn!" Anime fall over. Kiruchi left him on the floor and picked up her bag full of her robe, some crackers, and her lucky chain which had a tiger engraved on it. Soujiro, Misao, and Yahiko had given it to her for her 12th birthday.  
  
Soujiro handed her a small package and looked up at her. "This is for you. Yahiko and I thought you might need it." Anime blush. "Thanks." She opened the package slowly. Inside was a preserved water lily. Kiruchi took it out. "What's this?" Yahiko rubbed his head as he got up. "This was the first flower to bloom in the creek." She smiled and hugged both of them. They were shocked but they hugged back.  
  
(5 minutes later.)  
  
"C'mon! We're gonna be late for attendance." The three of them were running on top of the roofs and taking a short cut. "I told you not to eat more crackers, but you wouldn't listen." "Hey, I can't help myself!" Soujiro was trying to run with a cracker in his hand. "This way!" Kiruchi was a better navigator than they were since she went on a walk every other day. She saw Narumi waving at her, telling them to hurry up.  
  
She saw a hanging willow branch and swung down on it. Yahiko swung down but he was too afraid to jump down so he decided slide down slowly. Soujiro was still on the roof nibbling at his cookie. "Hurry up, Soujiro!" He smiled and threw the rest of the cracker into his mouth and swung down as well. They ran into the Dojo where some Kenshin was walking over to the students practicing budo(martial arts) and Iaido. He checked them off and went on. They ran in, panting and started stretching.  
  
(3 minutes later.my stupidity is spreading! X] Hooray!)  
  
Kenshin walked over to their group and smiled. "I hope you all will do your best today." They nodded. He checked them off and turned to the class. "Everyone!!!" All the students stopped what they were doing and turned towards Kenshin. "We'll be boarding the bus now. Be sure to have all your stuff ready." Everyone formed and single file line and started boarding the bus. Sano was in charge of the students in the back. Sano was hugging Megumi before he hurried on to the bus.  
  
(10 minutes later.My stupidity will fade when school starts!)  
  
The students were getting off the bus when two tall men with black hair greeted Kenshin and Sano. Kiruchi squinted at the one that was slightly shorter. "Hey, that's the guy from the Aoiya two years ago. I wonder why he's here." Yahiko shrugged. "C'mon. We better get inside." Kiruchi stepped off the bus. "Hold on. I forgot something." She ran inside and got her bag. She was about to get off when she saw something different about her bag. Someone had tied a braided red ribbon around the handle. Who gave me this? She heard Soujiro shouting to her from outside and she ran out the bus. The students from Ushoyia were standing in a straight line along the wall. Kiruchi set her bag down and went to line up.  
  
"Everyone." Shikono was standing on a platform by the arena. (He was chosen to be the announcer if you can't tell.) Everyone went silent. "Welcome to our annual spar with the Kamiya Dojo and the Ushiya Dojo. Please welcome the judges." Kiruchi glanced at the judges as Shikono announced their names. There was Kenshin, Sanosuke, a black haired man named Saitoh, a tall man with glasses was Enishi, the man she saw was Aoshi, and sitting next to him was..Misao? ***** If you didn't know(cuz I didn't tell you), Misao went off to Kyoto after Kiruchi's 12th birthday. They never knew she came back. I'm gonna watch tv. I'll update later.  
  
To be continued. 


	7. Tournament Part 1

Note: So I left out a few details.sorry about that  
  
Chapter 6?  
  
Kiruchi rubbed her eyes. It was Misao, but she looked different from before. She now wore a lavender shirt with a purple hakama. She nudged Yahiko, who was standing beside her and pointed to Misao. He nodded and whispered," She never told when she came back." Kiruchi looked back at Misao. She was whispering into Aoshi's ear and she giggled. Aoshi smiled and nodded while Misao hugged him. This is probably her boyfriend.  
  
She looked back at Shikono and walked off towards the bench for the Aoiya. The tournament consisted of two parts, budo and iaido. A pile of bokkens and bokutos stood in a corner. Shikono walked into the middle of the arena and threw a dice. It had landed on budo. Shikono explained the rules. It was going to be an individual battle instead of a whole group. The winner of each spar would advance to the next round until the finals. The winner would then receive an extra 10 for their score. The person with the highest score from each Dojo would then settle the score with a real sword fight until the first person to fall loses. Everyone nodded. The first match was Narumi against a boy named Koburo. Everyone on the Ushoiya team was a guy.  
  
She walked up there with her arms shaking. Kiruchi knew that she was always nervous before a spar. They both slide into a fighting pose and waited until Shikono yelled GO!  
  
(Approx. 7 minutes later o.O)  
  
Narumi was panting heavily. She had just won one round and Koburo won the first. The third round would decide the match. GO! Narumi held her ground while Koburo sprinted all the way to her she ducked and kicked him in the ankles. He flinched and stopped. Narumi stood up and karate chopped him on the back. Korburo winced and fell. Shikono held up the navy blue flag. (Ushoiya's color is maroon.)  
  
(27 minutes later.my lucky number n_n)  
  
Yahiko was up next. He was sweating all over the place, stinking up the bench. Kiruchi was studying Usyoiya's techniques. Hm.They seem to like quick and steady. Defense would be great against them since they focus more on attack and speed. The score was 4-3. Kamiya with 4. When Yahiko's name was called he walked up bravely. Kiruchi grabbed his shirt and nodded at him. He smiled and did a thumb up.  
  
He glared at his opponent who was a solid boy with sandy brown hair. Kiruchi and Soujiro knew that these two would be evenly matched. (8 minutes later)  
  
It was the middle of the third round with one win apiece. Hatsuka had tried to punch Yahiko who dodged it by using the blow as his way up and kicked him in the ass. Hatsuka was shocked and slipped, but he wasn't down yet. He turned at Yahiko and did multiple kicks at him. Yahiko tried his best at blocking, but one too many kicks got to him. A bruise formed on his forearm and Yahiko's face started to get red. Soujiro smirked. "C'mon Yahiko! If you can't defeat this guy, then you'll never be able to defeat me." It was true though. Soujiro paid attention to Kenshin's boring lectures about attack and defense while Yahiko was drooling and sleeping. Yahiko glowered at Hatsuka and spread his legs apart wider. Hatsuka decided to finish him off with a sideswipe. He was raising his arm when Yahiko smirked and slid his leg to dodge the attack. The crowd cheered. Yahiko spun his leg around and knocked Hatsuka down. The score became 5-3.  
  
He came running back with a grin on his face. Soujiro patted him on the back. "Th-Thanks Soujiro." Anime blush. Soujiro smirked. "I didn't want to see you loose that quickly. Yahiko's frog face appeared. (Chapter 4) "Anways, it's my turn. Ushoiya's students sure know how to keep a straight face. Too bad they won't know what hit them." Soujiro stood up and pranced there. (Yes, pranced) Yugaski was his opponent. He was rather tall with a gleam in his azure eyes. Narumi started drooling and wiped her mouth. Kiruchi shoved her away and knew that she was falling in love with Yugaski. Kiruchi glanced back at the arena.  
  
(13 minutes later.)  
  
Narumi was biting her fingernails franticly and was nervous of whom to cheer for. "Go Soujiro! Take that sucker down!" Kiruchi was careful not to cuss too much or else the judges would have to take off points. Narumi kept tugging on Kiruchi's gi top. The second round was over and Soujiro had lost. Instead of focusing on his defense, Soujiro had tried to use his speed as an attack, but ended up tripping over Yugaski's foot.  
  
Soujiro spat on the floor and wiped his mouth, and stood up smiling. "That was a clever trick." Yugaski rolled his eyes. "Yea, whatever. Let's finish this." Narumi squealed and fainted. Kiruchi kicked her in the stomach. "Wake up." Narumi floated up into her seat. "I heard him talk." Her body turned into a jelly substance and she melted. One of those cross pissed off signals appear on Kiruchi's head.  
  
The third round was starting as Soujiro had another big fat ass smile on his face. This time he let Yugaski lung first and jumped. He landed back on the arena floor, but before he could dodge again, Yugaski kicked him in the chest. Soujiro winced and gagged. Yugaski smirked and kicked him again. This time was harder and Soujiro fell to the floor. Kiruchi was shocked. "SOUJIRO!!!" Yugaski looked over at her. Narumi jumped back up with sparkles in her eyes. "OMG! OMG! He's looking over here." She looked at the floor and saw Soujiro lying there. "Soujiro."  
  
Yugaski held his arm out towards Soujiro, but he didn't take it. He bent over clutching his stomach. "Dammit you bastard." He limped over and sat between Kiruchi and Yahiko who held out some bandages to him. Soujiro took them and started wrapping his chest with it. Kiruchi relaxed slightly. "They don't care how much they hurt us do they? Well, they're gonna pay for what they did to my friends." She gritted her teeth and walked up to the arena while tying her ribbon tighter around her head. She glanced over at the judge's table and saw Misao winking at her. She smiled slightly and climbed up the stairs and glanced at her opponent.  
  
He was a tall 13-year-old boy with short black hair glimmering in the light. A lot of the girls in the crowd yelled out his name, Riokushi. She had to admit that he had a good appearance, but she didn't know how strong he was yet. He waved at the crowd and then faced her. "I'm not gonna go easy on you just because you're a pretty faced girl." She smirked and slid into her fighting pose. "I don't care what you think about me. I'm gonna take you down one way or another." He slid into his position. "You've got guts. I like that." Kiruchi disliked this guy after what he said. "Don't count on winning the tournament. Cuz your gonna havta go through me first. And I have a few tricks up my sleeve." She had gotten better and figured out what she could use with a sword and her fists.  
  
(Flashback) Kiruchi was standing in the clearing practicing her budo and iaido combinations when she decided to focus all her fury on to her attacks. She swung her sword at a stump nearby and a fiery bird flew out of her sword. It swooped down and hit the stump, setting it on fire. She looked at the sword and at her fists. They were glowing an eerie red color. "But this is the legendary power of the phoenix." She flipped her hand over and saw the same symbol on the sword. A five pointed star with the element symbols of fire, water, wind, earth, and ice.  
  
For the next hour, she trained using her knew skills and soon mastered them.  
  
(Back to the tournament)  
  
The first round was beginning and she let him lunged at her first trying to sideswipe her. She ducked and thought to herself. I'll let him beat me this first round so that I will be able to find out his techniques and how to defeat him. She punched him in the chest, but he didn't flinch like most people would've done. Instead he used his leg and kicked Kiruchi. She stood up and decided to now focus on her defense. She put her arms into a cross and blocked all his attacks until he found the weakness of the cross and kicked her in the side. She fell and Shikono held up the maroon flag.  
  
Kiruchi rubbed her ribs and stood back up and saw Riokushi waving at his teammates. She glanced behind her and saw Yahiko giving her a thumb up. She nodded at stretched her arms. Riokushi turned around. "Now that wasn't too bad was it? Don't worry, you'll be feeling more of that now." He rubbed his fingers through his hair. "Are you even trying to impress me? Cuz if you are, then it's not working. I let you win that round." He stopped and glared at her with his dark blue eyes. "So you're saying that you went easy on me?" She nodded and slid back into a fighting position. He did the same and spat on the floor. Shikono's hand went down and Kiruchi sprinted towards Riokushi. He tried to sideswipe her again but she grabbed his wrist and started bending it down. He used the other arm but she did the same thing to it. She kicked him hard in the ribs and punched him again and again until he fell.  
  
She panted heavily and went to her place on the arena. He wiped the trail of blood trickling down his mouth and walked back there. "You got lucky." She snorted. "I defeated you fair and square. You know it cuz you're the one who got creamed by me." He wiped the sweat off his forehead. "Well, maybe you're not that bad after all. But, I'm not gonna get beaten by a girl." She smirked. "Well, today's your lucky day because you're gonna get beaten by one right now!" Shikono's hand went down again. Riokushi ran to the edge of the arena and started running towards her. She had planned to show off her talent, but she thought of a without destroying the building. "Your head needs to cool down a bit. How about a lil Water Serpent Streamer (Yes, I know I'm not good with names)!" She thrust her fist forward causing a large stream of water to come out in a form of a snake. It opened its mouth revealing a pair of large fangs and disappeared, but the stream of water was still traveling towards him.  
  
The water crashed into him and he hit one of the pillars that held up the arena and slid to the floor. Everyone was shocked at what she did, but luckily Riokushi slowly sat up. Shikono raised up the navy blue flag and everyone cheered. Kiruchi slid to the floor and rubbed her arms. The pressure of the serpent had reversed into her arms causing it to weaken her arms. The scoreboard flipped from 5-4 to 6-4. She stood back up and dragged her feet all the way to the bench and collapsed.  
  
*** Tiger: Wow.that was weird. Don't you think so Fluffy? *pats rabid monkey*  
  
To be continued.. 


	8. A Dent in the Road

Note: My stupidity is fading….NO!!!!!!! I don't wanna be an A student anymore! Let me be!!! 

Anyways….on with the story with a lil surprise coming up…

****

Chapter 7

(1 hour later)

Kiruchi woke up and looked around. She rubbed her head and remembered that she had defeated Riokushi in the last budo spar. Kiruchi threw of the blankets and walked over to her bag that was in the corner. She was sharing a room with Narumi who wasn't there. She's probably out stalking that guy. She thought to herself. She took her robe out and changed.

(3 minutes later)

She untied the ribbon from her head and threw on the counter. She took the lucky chain and decided to put it around her neck. Kiruchi fingered the tiger. Now, with Misao gone, everything was different. The gang was still four with Narumi. She saw a pair of keys on the counter and read the note underneath it.

__

Kiruchi,

Yes, I'm stalking Yugaski. I'll be at the pool if you need me. Yahiko and Soujiro got a room nearby. Oh yea, our room number is 7. Theirs is 13. Hope you feel better! Kamiya won the budo spars, but the iaido spars are tomorrow from 10-3. Don't worry. We'll have an intermission, I know how much you like eating.

-Narumi

Kiruchi smiled and folded the letter and keys into her pocket. I think I'll go visit Yahiko and Soujiro to see how they're doing. She locked the door and walked down the hall. She had passed by some Ushoiya students who muttered," Great match." Maybe they're not so bad after all. She grinned to herself and found herself at the door of room 13. There was a lot of noise coming from inside. She put her ear by the door and decided to listen in.

"You were great, Yahiko!" She knew that that was Soujiro's voice.

"Yea. I am great aren't I?" Yahiko was boasting.

"NO, you're not." She didn't recognize this guy's voice, but she could tell she had heard it before.

"Whatever. I hope Kiruchi's okay. I mean, did you see the way that serpent nailed Riokushi?" Kiruchi smiled and knew that it was Misao.

"You didn't add any points did you Misao?" It was the guy's voice again. 

She heard Misao sigh. "No. Judges can't add points for allies though. It's not fair. I gave her a 9.5 though since her technique was perfect. .5 was for a loss." 

"What did you give us?" "Yahiko a 9, and Soujiro…8.5." Kiruchi smiled, but she didn't feel the door moving until she fell into their room and saw everyone staring at her. She looked up. "Hi?" Misao walked over to Kiruchi and helped her up.

"So how's everything going?" Soujiro was sniffling slightly because of his score and leaned against Yahiko. "N-Not so good." She walked over to the bed where Soujiro and Yahiko were sitting. "There's still the iaido matches. You still have a chance." Soujiro nodded and smiled. 

"The gang hasn't been together in a long time huh?" Kiruchi looked back at Misao and nodded. "What did you do in Kyoto?" Misao blushed slightly. "Well, I decided to visit my sister Mirika and I met Aoshi there." She looked up at the guy who was holding her. He looked up at Kiruchi. "Sorry I didn't introduce myself at the Aoiya…I'm Aoshi Shinomori." "Nice to meet you." Misao cocked her head at Kiruchi. "You two met before?" Kiruchi nodded. "Yea, when we went to the Aoiya to see you. Remember?" Misao nodded. 

"I remember that day alright. And I'm pretty sure that Yahiko and Soujiro remembered. Yahiko rolled his eyes and Soujiro nodded with a grin. (He smiles too much, no wonder he's insane.) "I'm gonna walk around a bit. It's nice here. Where are we again?" Aoshi pointed to a sign out the window. "Oh yea, we're in Yokohama. I'll see you guys at dinner." She walked out of the room and closed the door. 

She walked down the hallway and looked out the window. The sun was starting to set as a few early stars were coming up. She sighed and opened the door to the outside. A gentle breeze ruffled her black hair. She had untied her hair since it had been making her head feel tight. Kiruchi walked over to the top of a cliff and looked out over the horizon. The Tokyo Bay was below her with the waves rolling in. "Beautiful sunset isn't it?" Kiruchi turned around and saw Riokushi standing by an oak tree. She nodded. 

"You put up pretty well today even though you lost." He shrugged. "I can learn things from my losses. This is where I usually come to relax my mind from the negative things." "It's a great place. Very calm and peaceful." He nodded. "It's usually like this. Your name's Kiruchi right?" She nodded again. "And your Riokushi, the guy who a lot of girls drool over." He blushed a bit. "Yea…but they'd rather go shopping that practice budo. I mean, they're just so…. girly. But you, Narumi, and Misao are different. You three do train and practice even if you get really dirty from dirt and blood. Most girls aren't like that." 

She shrugged. "Everyone's different, but we all get along fine. We'd rather train than go shopping….mostly. But we do shop once in awhile. There's always a bit of girlyness in all girl's blood." He chuckled. "You know, you actually have a point there. Thanks for telling me that." He walked over by Kiruchi. She blushed slightly and looked behind her. She saw Narumi running into the motel with some guys chasing her. 

"I guess not all girls are bad after all." She hit him on the head. "All girls are great and better than boys. You know it cuz I demolished you today!" He rubbed his head. "Yea, yea, yea. I'm gonna go inside. Here's my room number if you ever wanna chat again." He took a marker out of his gi shorts and took her hand. (o.O What have I turned into?!? He didn't change clothes yet by the way.) She blushed redder as he wrote the number 9 on her palm.

Riokushi smiled at her and walked off. Kiruchi just stood there shocked at what he'd done. 

(5 minutes later)

She finally smiled a bit. Maybe he's not so bad after all. She shook her head. What am I thinking? Kiruchi walked back inside to her room where Narumi was drying her hair with a towel. "What happened?" Narumi blushed. "Well, as you know I went to stalk Yugaski and…I accidentally fell into the pool by accident. The other boys were shocked and then ran after me for fun I guess. They're really nice for guys." Kiruchi smiled. "I'm glad you made some new friends." She winked at Narumi. "Haha. I'm gonna go get something to dinner. You coming?" 

"Yea, I'll be there after I take a shower. I feel well…dirty." She glanced at her hand. Narumi nodded and went out the door. Kiruchi sighed and thought to herself. Wow, today's been pretty great and it's not even over yet. She smiled to herself and cradled her purple robe. 

(10 minutes later)

"That was enjoyable." She changed into her purple robe and tied it with a lavender obi. She was coming out of the bathroom and put the towel in the hamper. "I wonder what we have for dinner? I hope they have steak or ribs (drool)." She licked her lips and walked out of the room. 

*~*

To be continued…


	9. Lost but Found

Tiger: No one reviews anymore *sniffle* They shall pay! Muhahahaha! :D not

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Chapter 8

Kiruchi shook her long hair out of her face and brushed it quickly. + _Why did Riokushi give me his room number? Argh! He's so weird sometimes… + _She placed the brush back on the table and walked out the door. She was leaning on the banister looking down the staircase when Riokushi came out of his room. They glanced at each other until Koburo whispered something in his ear. He nodded and walked towards the banister where Kiruchi was leaning on. "Ready for dinner? I heard that they're serving some dinner special today. That should be good." 

She nodded. "I just hope they have some steak or ribs." He smiled. "Yea, steak and ribs are good." They both smiled at each other for a moment and walked down the stairs to the dining room. "I guess I'll see you later then." Riokushi nodded. "Why don't you come over to our room? We already invited Narumi, Yahiko, and Soujiro." She shrugged. "Maybe. I was thinking about doing something, but I'll try." He glanced at her hand. "You remember what number our room is?" "Yup." 

They both left the doorway and went to their tables. Misao had gone with Aoshi to get food at a different restaurant. Soujiro, Narumi, and Yahiko were sitting at the table waiting for her. Soujiro was not smiling when she came. (Imagine how that would look like.) He waited until she sat down in her seat when he whispered something into her ear. "Is there something going on between you and Riokushi that I don't know about?" Kiruchi was shocked. (Thinking so annoying -_- Now when she's thinking it's gonna looking have + around it.) +Oh crap, has he been stalking me? If he finds out…he'll never forgive me. + She turned back towards his face. "Of course not. That dweeb is a loser compared to me." He glared slightly at his table. "You better be right." He sat back straight in his seat and continued eating his meal. 

She sighed slightly and turned to her meal. There was a small steak, broccoli, and rice placed on it. She picked up her chopsticks and started eating. Yahiko was glancing at her every now and then. +Why is he glaring at me so much? I wasn't doing anything. + Yahiko was the first on done. "I'm gonna go practice for a bit before we head off towards room 9. You're all coming right?" They all nodded. He stood up and walked out the door passing Shikono was leaning against the doorway. Kiruchi squinted at the doorway. 

He was motioning her to come. She swallowed the last bit of rice and walked towards him. "Great job today. Keep it up." She nodded. "Why'd you really call me here?" Shikono scowled. "Fine, be that way. I was wondering about tomorrow…the iaido spars…did you bring your sword?" Kiruchi rubbed her head. "I think so…Let me go check. Stay here." She ran to the staircase and opened the door to her room.

She went to her bag and was about to open it when she heard something fall down behind her. Kiruchi turned around. She saw two heads with black hair sticking out above their beds and whispering. + Who the hell are these two? + She grabbed a pillow from the floor and walked cautiously over there. 

Kiruchi shut her eyes and turned around the bed. Two loud thuds were heard as she opened her eyes. She lifted her pillow and saw Riokushi and Yahiko fall. Her favorite photo album was opened and was between them. "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU TWO DOING HERE?!?!?" She was furious and they both retreated to the corner. Riokushi finally stood up and helped Yahiko up. "W-We were um…" "Looking at the stars." Yahiko had interrupted Riokushi and was pointing to the open window. A large cross vein appeared on Kiruchi's head. "LIARS! YOU TWO WERE LOOKING AT MY FAVORITE PHOTO ALBUM!" 

They both panicked and made a run for the door when she threw a pillow at them. Yahiko had barely managed to close the door as the pillow hit his fingers. Kiruchi clenched her fists and relaxed. + Those idiots are getting really annoying…+ She walked back to her bag and opened the pockets. When she was done looking through all of them…she gasped. + Crap! I forgot to pack my sword! + 

With her long hair trailing behind her, she ran downstairs to Shikono. "I can't find my sword anywhere!" He chuckled. "I knew you would forget it, that's why I packed it after you left…but, they wouldn't allow me in with it because it wasn't a katana, kodachi, wakizashi, or any other sword they recognized. Don't get discouraged though, I brought my katana with so that you can use it." She nodded and hugged Shikono. "Thank you so much! You're the greatest Shikono." "I am? Yea, I am." He let go of Kiruchi. " I have to go. Here's my katana." He handed her a thin, black sheath. "Don't loose it. It's a very precious sword to me." She nodded. "I won't"

Shikono ruffled her hair and walked off to join Sano and Kenshin who were talking to Enishi and Saitoh. She sighed. + That was close. Good thing Shikono's here or else I would've been screwed. + Kiruchi pulled out the hilt of the sword and thumbed its ha(blade). She slid it back in and walked out to the shore of Tokyo Bay.

(45 minutes later)

She swung the sword around and slid it back into its sheath. + Shikono's katana feels a lot different sword. It's so light…I can barely feel it. + Kiruchi put the sword by her side as she folded her arms behind her head and lay down in the sand. The sounds of crickets and water churning were fitting in with the salty scent in the air. She closed her eyes and relaxed to the gentle breeze tugging lightly on her hair. The sound of a wave crashing into a boulder woke her out of her relaxation. She groaned," How long was my relaxation time not thinking?" 

"Three minutes exactly." She swung around. Soujiro was standing on a large boulder with a smile on his face. He walked over to her and helped her up to her feet. Kiruchi wiped the sand off her robes and tucked the katana into her obi. "How'd you know I was here?" He shrugged. "I didn't. I just came out here to get some air before I went to Riokushi's room. Didn't he tell you?" She clenched her teeth silently. + Would he please stop freaking out? + "Yea, he told me."

They walked back to the hotel together. Soujiro was looking at her when he opened the door for her. She looked back at his dark brown eyes with her amber ones. "Are you okay?" He nodded slightly and Anime blush. "Sorry, it's just that…you're different from when we were younger." She blushed slightly. "Of course, we're all different physically and emotionally. You, Yahiko, Narumi, and me. All of us are different now. And well, I think you've changed a lot from when you were younger too." 

These words floated into Soujiro's heart as he just stood there smiling at her. "Let's get inside. It's getting pretty chilly outside." She walked through the door and he followed. "I'll meet you at Riokushi's. I wanna go to my room first. Alone." Soujiro was about to protest but stopped when Koburo came running to Soujiro. "Soujiro, Riokushi wants to ask you something." Soujiro glanced at Kiruchi and nodded back at Koburo. "Okay, I'll be right there." Koburo ran back upstairs. "I wonder what he wants to ask you-" She stopped short. + Oh no, it's probably about me. Great, just perfect. Oh well, guys are guys. + 

Soujiro place a lock of hair behind Kiruchi's ear. "I wish we could talk more, but I gotta go." She nodded as he ran upstairs. She sighed and walked upstairs to her room. + I hope everything's all right between them. + She placed the katana into her bag and tied her hair into a loose ponytail. Narumi opened the door. "Hey Kiruchi. You ready to go?" She nodded and stood up. Narumi smiled. "I heard a rumor that you were with Soujiro on the beach." 

Kiruchi froze. "Um…yea, but we were just talking." Narumi smirked. "Only talking, eh?" She nodded and walked out the door. "So did you see Yugaski again?" Narumi ignored her and kept walking until they got to Riokushi's room. "Yea, we talked after dinner. He's a great guy. He lives with his family in between Yokohama and Kawasaki." She smiled and knocked on the door. Yugaski's face appeared. "Good you both are here." They walked into the room and saw Koburo, Yahiko, Soujiro, Hatsuka, and Riokushi were eating some dinner rolls slathered with butter and cinnamon. 

Yahiko was the first one to notice them and stood up. "Hey you two. What took you so long?" Kiruchi shrugged. "I was just doing something in my room. What are all you doing?" Hatsuka grabbed another dinner roll. "Eating dessert, what else?" A giant sweat tear appeared on both of their heads. "You call dinner rolls dessert?" Koburo nodded and stuffed his mouth with another roll. Narumi went to go sit on their bed and talk to Yugaski. + Why are people being so very strange these days? + (So very true…)

She shrugged and took the dinner roll Hatsuka was offering. The cinnamon was sticking to the butter like glue making it sticky. She tore a piece off and placed it into her mouth. The butter melted in her mouth as she swallowed. "Not too bad I guess. Who made it?" Yahiko raised his hand. "I got it from the kitchen." "It figures." She stuffed the rest into her mouth and chewed slowly. 

(10 minutes later)

The plate of dinner rolls were gone and the guys were all laying on the floor except for Kiruchi, Narumi, and Yugaski who were talking about the different techniques they were using today. Soujiro got up from the floor and went to the bathroom muttering," I don't feel so good." Riokushi went to his dresser and took out a bottle of water. "Water…" He broke the seal and tilted his head back letting the water flow into his mouth. He swallowed and passed the bottle around. "That feels good." Everyone started standing up and headed for the door saying," Good luck to everyone." Kiruchi waited for Narumi to say good-bye to Yugaski while Riokushi took the plate off the ground and threw it into the trash bin. "Too bad we only do this once every two years." Kiruchi looked up. "Yea. Can't wait till next time." He nodded and ran his fingers through his black hair letting the sweat drops fly off to the ground. 

Kiruchi had a hard time prying Narumi from Yugaski and dragged her to the door. "See you tomorrow." Riokushi looked up. "Yea. See ya." She flashed a smile at him and opened the door leading her and Narumi to the hallway. "That was sorta fun…" Narumi sighed. "Yea, Yugaski's so cool." Kiruchi rolled her eyes and opened the door to their room. It was already 11 o'clock and they still had to get up at 6 to stretch with everyone else. She untied her hair and rolled into her bed. "G'night Narumi." Kiruchi sighed one last time and drifted off to sleep.

~*~

That was a bit…I dunno how to explain. Wow, it took two chappies to fill in the rest of that day… Sorry it took me a bit long to type. I was too lazy watching tv. XD. Sad, but true. Review, review, review. Click the pretty button and review. Anyway, I'll stop bothering you a leave now. I'll just go watch Samurai X now…

To be continued…


	10. New Feelings

Everyone's at school. No one reviews. What happened to the excitement of FF? Now school's startin…Everything's barren and wasted. *sob* WHY DOESN'T ANYONE EVER REVIEWS MY STORIES?!? Why?!? IT NOT FAIR!!!!! *sniff* Okay, I'll stop now. Oh yea, I'm gonna do less narrating and do mostly POV's. On with the story. 

****

Chapter 9

__

Kiruchi stood in the middle of a large flower field. "Where am I?" She looked in front of her. A tall man and his wife were standing there smiling at her. Although she didn't want to, her body started walking towards them. "Home is a place you always love."

The man smiled at her and faded away. She turned towards the woman. "You are still the beautiful girl I know. The beautiful tigress with the heart of a dragon." With a smile, the woman faded away as well. 

She stood there. "What are they talking about? A heart of a dragon?" 

Kiruchi woke up rubbing her eyes. The sun was just starting to rise as she rubbed her eyes. "Home is a place you always love…I have no clue what they're talking about." She kept mumbling complaints as she dragged her feet to the rest room. The sounds of some chirping birds weren't waking Narumi since she was still sleeping soundly.

Kiruchi's POV

Another day, another tournament. When is something interesting gonna happen? It's always same old, same old. She grabbed the cloth hanging on the edge of the bucket and wiped her face. Walking to her bag, she noticed something sticking out under the door. Eh? What's this? She picked up the note. It was a plain piece of paper with a border of small lilies. 

__

Kiruchi-

Same cliff 

Hour of the dragon (6:00 am)

__

Feel like talking

Come alone

She smiled to herself. Ryokushi was falling for her. She laughed a bit and pulled out a thin, red ribbon from her pocket. The ends were limp from all the years she had used it. It feels just like yesterday I came to Tokyo and lived with Shikono and Yukino. But something doesn't feel right. They call me their daughter, but I don't really feel like their daughter…I have these strange…powers. All the other masters of swordsmanship keep examining me. I feel different. 

Kiruchi was planning to argue with herself longer, but the sound of crashing waves caused her to lift her head up. While tying her hair up, she walked over to the door and slid it open. There was a narrow hallway there, but right on the side was the most magnificent view of the ocean she had ever seen. A few cherry trees were planted with some pines and firs. The trees were just creeping up towards the balcony. A large gust of wind blew her hair to the side along with some leaves. The leaves twirled in a small circle and when she looked up she saw the man from her dreams standing there. 

End of Kiruchi's POV

Kiruchi rubbed her eyes, but the image wasn't there. Instead a small pile of cherry blossoms were replacing it. She shook her head. "I gotta stop eating bread before night." She turned back towards the ocean, but someone was already leaning on the rail. It was Yahiko. 

Yahiko's POV

I didn't notice Kiruchi there until she kicked me. "What the hell was that for?!?" She stuck her nose in the air. "'Cuz I felt like it." 

"Yea right." I turned back towards the view. She followed. 

"Are you nervous about today?" She spoke a bit softer, but her voice was still firm.

I shrugged. "Not really." .// Hahaha…OF COURSE I'M NERVOUS!\\. 

She turned back towards the lake. "Same here. I hope I made it into at least the top 5. Shikono said that he would buy me a tori if I did." I cocked my head at her.

"Why a tori and not a dog?" I had always thought that toris' were strange. They can sing beautifully, but they are very annoying. 

"Not just a tori. I want a mixed tori." Now she was getting even stranger.

"A mixed tori?" She probably was still asleep or something.

"Yea, a tori with a lot of different colors and songs." I nodded my head. She was finally making sense.

"Oh, I thought you meant a mixed tori like with a lot of mixed breed. Then it would probably look all mutated and ugly like you." I froze. I knew I shouldn't have said that, but my big mouth was just too much. I was about to take it back, but I felt a hard hit on my jaw and I fell.

"You big asshole! You're the one who's mutated and ugly!" I rubbed my face. A small bruise was beginning to form.

"I'm sorry! I take it back." With this, she kicked me and walked back into her room. I sighed. "Girls, I'm never going to understand them…"

(Back to Kiruchi's POV)

Damn Yahiko. What he said was stupid and wrong. He's the mutated and ugly one. I sighed. "Oh well…" He's still my friend I know for sure. We've gone through a lot together. We helped each other to get here. It seems just like yesterday when we were training by the stream. A few flashbacks went into my mind.

__

"C'mon! Just a little higher." A 10-year-old girl was trying to climb on to a thick branch. She slipped on a leaf and caught another branch. Kiruchi had turned to her shoulder, seeing that it had started to bleed. Yahiko jumped down to her branch. "That's gotta hurt…" 

He tore of a strip of cloth from his kimono and tied it around her shoulder. "Does that feel better?" Kiruchi was speechless and was blushing a light red. 

"Y-Yea…" A voice was heard from the distance.

"Yahiko! Kiruchi! It's time for dinner!" Kaoru was standing outside the house and waved her arms at them. Both of them jumped down the branch and into a pile of dried leaves. Red, yellow, and orange colors were surrounding the two kids as they laughed together and smiled. 

Kiruchi had turned to Yahiko. "Yahiko?"

He turned around. "Yea?"

She blushed redder into a deep scarlet. "Let's promise to be friends forever no matter what." A shaking hand stuck out.

"Sure. Why not?" He placed his hand on top of hers and started running towards the house. "LAST ONE THERE HASTA WIPE THE FLOORS!"

Kiruchi chased after him thinking, maybe he isn't such a bad friend after all. 

I started drifting off to sleep when my nose caught a sweet scent. Sea lavender? That scent is hard to find in Japan. My eyes opened up and looked at the sun that was shining just hovering above Tokyo Bay. Oh crap! I forgot that I have to meet Ryokushi this morning!

Ryokushi's POV

I was throwing rocks on to the beach below the cliff when it finally hit me. Did Kiruchi even receive my note? I told Narumi the night before to place it on the table…Or was Kiruchi disgusted that I asked her to come meet me here? I'm such a dumbass…The only reason why I want to talk to her is well, I enjoy her being in my presence. 

I picked up another rock from the trunk of the tree. Ryokushi, you really are a big, stupid los- Something caught my eye. The rock that I was holding made me somehow loose all my negative thoughts. I turned the rock over and something made me gasp.

Engraved in this black rock I had found, it finally hit me. On the rock, was _LOVE._ I wanted to throw this rock far into the ocean, but I couldn't. Instead I slipped it into my pocket and turned around. Sure enough, Kiruchi was standing right there…

Narration 

The waves crashed against the cliffs as Ryokushi put his hands into his pockets. "Hey Kiruchi."

"Hey. What did you want to talk to me about?" He blushed, leaving a soft pink shade in his skin. 

"Well, I was just wondering about…erm, well, the truth is…" She was growing impatient.

"Well, what?!?" She stepped forward as he stepped back.

"Well, howexactlydidyoumeetYahikoandSoujiro?" He took a long breath of the salty smell. She stared at him as if he were an old mutated monster. (Heh, I dunno how that came out…)

"Eh?( My line.)" He fell over. "Tell. Me. What. Do. You. Mean?!?" Kiruchi kicked him as he kept laughing.

"Okay, okay." Ryokuni stood to his feet. "How exactly did you meet Yahiko and Soujiro?" Kiruchi was speechless.

"Um…Well, Shikono and Yukino introduced them to me. Them, Misao, and Narumi were my first and best friends. We always stuck together." He opened his mouth to say something, but something made him stop. She continued on. "Misao is a bit isolated from us now, but she's back with some one else. They met together by love and now we have a total of 6 people in our little gang. Why do ask?"

Ryokushi's POV

Love. That's what separates us, yet connecting us. I still can't form the words in my mouth, but I can in my mind. I love you. Now, I do know why I do. Your courage throughout the tournament, your caring for others, and so much more. If only Yahiko and especially Soujiro weren't always there by you, I would've spent more time with you…

"I-I was just wondering that's a-all." A bell rang numerous times as Shikono ran down the halls yelling.

"Breakfast time! Everybody up!" Kiruchi had turned to leave already. 

"Wait." I don't know why, but something came over me as I grabbed her wrist.

She turned around. "What do you want?" I gulped down a large amount of courage as I saw a fire of annoyance and rejection in her eyes. 

"T-The truth is, I-I love you." I leaned over and tried to kiss her, but she had turned around already. The only thing my lips felt was the shoulder of the one I loved. 

Kiruchi turned around again. "That's really sweet of you to say that, but…I don't love you back. Sorry." She had said all of this rather fast and flat. There and then was when I realized how much love could really hurt a person. I dropped down to my knees and clenched my hands into fists. Kiruchi, I will NOT let you get away with this. For you'll see how much those words hurt. "I'LL GET MY REVENGE!!!" 

I laughed and thought up a few evil schemes already. I joined Koburo at the hallway and caught a glimpse of my reflection in the mirror. My mask has now been removed. Instead of being the oh so cute and sweet Ryokuni, I have become full of anger and hatred. Blood boiled in my veins like hot soup over an open stove. My fingers felt strong and powerful unlike the puffy and soft ones I had before. She will definitely pay…

Narration

Unnoticed, some one was watching all of this the whole time. "Ryokushi's turned into a dork, Kiruchi's the same, and Yahiko's gone abusive…What an intresting competition this is going to be…" Soujiro laughed and walked down the hallway with a cheerful smile on his face. Something tells me that the competition will be very fierce this year.

To be continued…

Okay, so I did rush a bit…And it was messed up. Is it me or is Ryokushi beginning to sound a bit like…Enishi? I'm turning weird. And yes, I also do know that it's taking forever to finish the tournament. I'm busy too you know. Yea, I'm tired today. REVIEW PLEASE THEN!!! Then I'll be back to normal. 

PS Muhahahaha!!! Samurai X rules!!! I now have Samurai X: Trust & Betrayal and Samurai X: Reflection!!! SWEET! Ok, calm down. I've turned into one of those happiness dorks…Scary. O.O


End file.
